I’ve just ordered this one so will report if it’s any good. It’s their top model; 3.9mm diameter and 0.3 megapixels.
Why didn’t you try one of these el cheapo USB cameras for less than $20. They must have thought about you, since they support Win XP.
P.S. I have everything on Win 8.1, which they don’t support, which prevented me from buying it.
I prefer a self contained device if possible, wanted a screw-on mirror, 4mm diameter or less (a lot of TB20 inspection/drain holes are ~4mm), and a decent resolution. The combination of under 4mm diameter and 0.3 megapixels makes it pricey. Also I can lend this thing to a colleague A&P who then does me favours, so it all works out nicely – that is how aircraft maintenance is done, by nice people who you know and trust and work with 
For example I lend out my ACF50 spray kit… so long as the guy keeps it nicely topped up
An interesting article in Aviation Consumer about boroscopes. The VIVIDIA ABLESCOPE HD USB for only $150 sounds good enough for detailed inspection of piston engine cylinders and valves. It can be connected to a computer monitor and has a 180deg articulating head with 6 LEDs.
At that price it would be worth buying for a private owner.
… if trained to use it, i.e. knowing what to look for. Doesn’t that require a bit of experience? And perhaps it might be type/model dependent? What is really bad on a Lycoming might perhaps be a slight worry on a Rotax and no point at all on a Thielert (for just one imaginary example) ? I haven’t read the article referred to, though.
Thanks for the tip, though! Like remote-controlled drones, these might well become ubiquitous at very short term, bringing radical change to certain aspects of certain professions, perhaps even to daily life.
I bought a similar device (can’t find the P/N right now) and it turned out to be useless because
It works great for looking at somebody’s face and scaring them
You can find these on Ebay / Amazon down to €100.
I suspect the best borescopes might be purely optical ones…
What to look for inside a cylinder isn’t hard to learn. You want to see a nice criss-cross pattern, with no scoring marks along the piston motion axis, and no brown deposits (baked-on oil i.e. glazed cylinders). On Lyco/Conti engines, incredibly stupidly, there is no way to inspect the entire camshaft without at least removing all the cylinders. You cannot see any of the cams without removing at least one cylinder.
So if anyone finds one of these actually works for cylinder inspection, I would be very interested.
I can only suggest you read the AC article. This one sounds good.
I have also had experience of useless optical endoscopes.
Would you have the chance to share that article with us.
Unable to read it without an subscription.
Sharing the article would almost certainly breach copyright – “Reproduction in whole or in part is prohinited”
